LDS Church announces live Facebook chat with David Archuleta

Recommended by Sarah Petersen, Deseret News
Published: Thursday, May 29 2014 9:45 a.m. MDT
Updated: 3 hours ago

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced Thursday that former American Idol contestant and returned LDS missionary David Archuleta will be participating in a live chat on Facebook.

Photo of David Archuleta arriving at the Missionary Training Center in Provo.

Archuleta Family, Deseret New Archives

On June 24 at 7 p.m., Archuleta will participate in the interactive discussion regarding his decision to serve a mission, as well as his mission experiences. The event will be available on the LDS Youth Facebook page and will be moderated by Young Women General President Bonnie L. Oscarson and Young Men General President David L. Beck, according to LDS.org.

"Youth around the world will have opportunities to ask questions in real time and hear about David Archuleta's decision to postpone a successful music career to serve the Lord," the statement on LDS.org says.

"He will also share stories from his mission, give advice for future missionaries, and share his testimony in word and song."

Archuleta returned in March from his mission to Chile, where he served for two years. Since his return, Archuleta has published two short YouTube videos mentioning his missionary service.
To find out more about the fireside, visit LDS.org.

Video Monday - Using Technology to Share Your Beliefs

In a world as advanced as ours, technology provides a unique opportunity to share our beliefs with a wider range of people, not just those we see at work, school or in our homes.  We are not limited by location or time, we can share from anywhere instantly though endless mediums. 

"With so many social media resources and a multitude of more or less useful gadgets at our disposal, sharing the good news of the gospel is easier and the effects more far-reaching than ever before . . . My dear young friends, perhaps the Lord’s encouragement to “open [your] mouths” might today include “use your hands” to blog and text message the gospel to all the world! But please remember, all at the right time and at the right place."
Quote given by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf in the Sunday morning session of general conference on April 3, 2011.

Share what you believe today, you never know the affect it will have.

Mormon teen gives up money from shoe design hobby to help family in need

By Tracie Snowder
For Aggieland Mormons
 
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — A jar full of money sits in the room of 14-year-old Kate Hinckley. While other kids might be saving up for the latest iPhone or clothes, Kate is saving her money for a family in California in desperate need of help, using her creative talent to make unique shoes.

Kate, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was never really into art when she was younger and says she didn't have a knack for it. That all changed the moment she stepped into her eighth grade art class earlier this year.

“I was never really a good artist when I was younger, but my art teacher has really helped me have a love for art,” Kate said in a video for the College Station Independent School District. “I love to really just doodle and draw to make stuff.”

Kate’s doodling turned into beautiful designs, and she brainstormed a way to use this talent. Together with her parents, Shane and Amy Hinckley, they decided to see what Kate could do with a white pair of tennis shoes. Amy came home one day and surprised Kate with her first pair of shoes and told her to “just go at it.”

“So I just created a pattern and drew it on the shoe and it turned out really well,” Kate told AggielandMormons.org.

Kate posted a picture of the shoes to her Instagram page and a friend asked if they were for sale. Kate decided to sell her first pair for $25 and the eighth grader already knew how she wanted to spend the money.

Click the link to read the full article:

Mormon teen gives up money from shoe design hobby to help family in need | Deseret News

Video Monday - Daily Meal

Daily Meal is a program organized by the Osceola Christian Ministry Center.  At their facility, meals are served to the homeless daily by several different churches and organizations on a volunteer basis.  



Our stake has been involved in the Daily Meal program for many years at the ward level. After years of having rewarding experiences helping to serve the homeless, we are asking each ward to take part in this wonderful opportunity. Our stake has been assigned one day each month to prepare and serve a meal and each ward has been assigned one of those days See the listing below.

We hope all involved will enjoy serving and remember what Christ taught about serving others.

"Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Matthew 25:40


Our assigned day is the 4th Monday of every month.
(Except where noted * on 2 occasions)

Thursday, May 29* - Hunter's Creek Ward
Monday, June 23 - Lake Nona Ward
Monday, July 28 - St. Cloud Ward
Monday, August 25 - Kissimmee Ward
Monday, September 22 - Pleasant Hill Ward
Monday, October 27 - Poinciana Branch
Monday, November 24 - Hunter's Creek Ward
Monday, December 22 - Lake Nona Ward 

Contact Emily Munns with questions or for more information:
Cell Phone: (407) 414-5011   Email: fernsgr888@aol.com
Click here for more details.

Service Opportunity - Book Sorting and Cleaning

Are you in need of volunteer hours, have some extra time to help, or a desire to help children from the age of 5-8 years old improve their reading skills?  Then this is an opportunity for you!

The Osceola County School District is looking for volunteers to help sort and clean over 100,000 books. The book project will give 6 take home books for the summer to all the K to grade 3 students in Osceola County. This is part of a district project to improve reading skills.

A total of 40 pallets of books where purchased and each pallet has 3,000 to 4,000 books that need to be cleaned and sorted.  They are in serious need of volunteers to help with the project.  If you would like to volunteer see the place and times listed below.

Habitat for Humanity Restore
2340 N. Orange Blossom Trail
Kissimmee, FL 34744

Monday - Friday  9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Saturday  9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Sunday 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM

For more information or any questions you may have please contact Richard Birmingham at (407) 343-7330.

Hunters Creek Stake awarded Outstanding Partner in Education for service project at Cypress Park Elementary

If there's one thing the members of  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints  understand, it's service. They believe that serving others is the way to show their love for the Savior and all mankind.

On Friday, May 2, the Hunters Creek and Orlando South Stakes of the church received the Outstanding Partner in Education award for 2013-2014 from the Orange County Public Schools for service projects performed at Palmetto and Cypress Park Elementary schools.

On October 26, 2013 Orange county schools held a day of service for many schools across their district with participants in the Partners in Education program.  The Hunters Creek Stake, which covers southern Orange county and most of Osceola county, organized a service project at Cypress Park Elementary.

In the weeks leading up to the service project, members of the church collected 17 bins of clothing, 18 boxes of books, and put together a teacher supply box for each classroom. On the 26th over 200 people including church members, students, parents, and teachers showed up to the school to beautify the campus.

Participants restored the reading garden by trimming, weeding, planting new plants, laying mulch, and pressure washing the side walks so students could enjoy their reading time in the garden. 

Rocks that covered part of  the parking lot were removed and replaced with pavers and all the lines in the remaining parking lots were repainted.

Lastly, the front of the school and other areas were beautified with new plants, mulch and sod to give the campus a needed restoration.

In the months since the service project the members have continued to build a service relationship with the school and is planning another day of service this summer before the next school year begins.

Click on any of the collages to see the full gallery of pictures from the day of service.

Video Monday - I'm a Mormon, Former Ballerina, and Fashion Executive

Inspiring story of a former dancer turned fashion executive after ex-boyfriend comments on her wearing a t-shirt under her dress to be modest.

Video Monday - Mormon young men bring smiles to 36 girls' faces

Mormon young men bring smiles to 36 girls' faces, video reaches thousands

By Alison Moore, Deseret News

Published: Thursday, March 27 2014 9:30 p.m. MDT

Updated: Friday, March 28 2014 12:19 p.m. MDT

A unexpected youth activity taught a group of young men and women the power of positive words and is now reaching beyond the small group to thousands.

The teachers quorum and leaders organized an activity based around the song "Words" from Christian rock band Hawk Nelson. The lyrics read, "Words can build us up. Words can break us down. Start a fire in our hearts or put it out."

Inspired by this message, the young men wrote words and phrases about each young woman while the girls were in another room. They then had each girl come into the room to be surprised with the positive words from the boys. The girl's reactions were more enthusiastic than Johnson or the young men had anticipated.

"From that very first reaction we thought, 'Oh boy this is, that was pretty cool,'" Johnson said. "I don’t necessarily know what we were expecting per se, but it was different. There was something just in the air that you could feel that said, 'Yeah, this is what can happen when you treat people the way that they need to be treated.'"

The girls enjoyed their experience so much, they all stayed in the room to watch as the rest of the girls came in and read the kind words written about them.

"By and large, it was amazing," Johnson said. "... And it has nothing to do with me, and it has everything to do with, 'Wow, I didn't know my peers looked at me like that.'"

The girls' reactions were edited and shared through a YouTube video posted March 21, which now has thousands of views.

Johnson said that while the young men and young women learned a lesson, the leaders and parents did too. He said one message viewers could take away from the video is to address everything in a way that builds others up instead of tearing them down.

"To group it all into one, just don’t be afraid to compliment someone," he said.

Alison Moore is a writer for the Faith and Family sections at DeseretNews.com. She is studying journalism and editing at Brigham Young University.

Email: amoore@deseretdigital.com Twitter: @alison_kathleen